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Wednesday 6 April 2016

E is for Experimentation and Errors


I love experimentation as part of my glass beadmaking journey, but only occasionally does it lead to AMAZING results, more often it leads to errors and rejects!

Here is my favourite experiment with 2 glasses, and a repeated use of certain techniques, that led to an AMAZING result...  I'm showing you this to show you what can happen when it works well!

When experimenting = Amazing!

Unfortunately I had only one rod of the base colour, which was unlabelled so I have no idea what make of glass it was or what colour. I've tried to recreate the effect with similar colours of glass but the magic hasn't happened again.

More often that not experimentation just leads to ERRORS or Rejects.

When experimenting = Rejects Jar

That was my Rejects Jar in the early days, now I have 2 full Reject Jars, and 1 full jar of "seconds" - I'm not sure why I'm keeping my errors or total rejects, I guess it's good to see how far I've come along since I started, but I have no practical use for them!

I keep my Seconds Jar because sometimes someone really likes a "second" enough to not care about the imperfections I see, then I can make someone happy with a bead; I like making people happy with beads!

Do you have your own versions of Rejects or Seconds that you hang on to?

P.S. - What do you think I should do with my Rejects?
(Feel free to let your imagination run riot)

14 comments:

  1. I do have a version of a reject's jar, because I never throw away any of my writing, even if it goes nowhere and falls in a heap, there is always something I can take away from it, reuse - ideas, maybe a bit of description, or just a learning to never try that again!

    Rather than a rejects jar, you could have a rejects wall, you could use them as targets for darts, since they have holes through he middle, when you're feeling frustrated. ;P

    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles | Wittegen Press | FB3X

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    1. I love your darts idea! Super fun :)

      I do the same with writing (on a smaller scale with blog posts) until I decide that it's holding me back having that many drafts and then sometimes I have a good purge!

      Mars xx

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  2. The fun part of creating is experimenting! I have dabbled in making things and have quite a few worthy enough to wear - and of course I actively collect odds and imperfect things - equally joyful to create with them. Sometimes I think they offer more possibilities. I once had a cracked ceramic bead - and it was transformed when I filled the crack with gold paint.

    Vidya Sury
    http://vidyasury.com

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    1. Ooh the gold in cracks, I've read that before, Kintsugi! The Japanese way of repairing broken pottery that it's part of the piece and you enhance it rather than throwing it away or disguising it.

      Such a beautiful idea, there is a bead that is on a similar premise called Love Hurts by Ohmbeads and it is about how hearts scarred by love and hurt is more beautiful than an umblemished perfect heart that has experienced neither.

      Mars xx

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  3. Argh Soph got here first and said exactly what I was thinking of saying :). My rejects jar is directories full of writing that no one else has seen.
    Those experimental beads look absolutely lovely.
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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    1. Thanks! I think all the bloggers and writers visiting may well say the same thing ;)

      Mars xx

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  4. You Rejects Jar still looks pretty fabulous :) And I love that deep blue color!

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    The Multicolored Diary
    MopDog

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    1. I will probably make another 100 beads trying to find the base rod again, am keeping a bit left over just to try and carry on identifying new rods that I buy!

      I'm fond of my rejects, they are all lessons learnt!

      Mars xx

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  5. The beads are fabulous. I am sure the seconds are lovely as well. I am always my harshest critic!

    With the rejects, use them in the bottom of a glass vase of flowers?

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    1. Some of the seconds are near perfect, I get them out from time to time, after a while so I can judge them more rationally and not in the heat (excuse the pun) of the moment!

      Ooh I like that, I know a few beadmakers who use them as ground cover in the garden on in pots.

      Mars xx

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  6. When I did more knitting and sewing, I kept all of the odd things that I made that didn't quite turn out. With knitting, you can at least unravel the item to reuse the yarn for another project. With sewing, I just couldn't bear to toss something that I had put time and effort into, even if it never saw the outside of my sewing bins.

    No ideas of what to do with your rejects though. A clear glass jar on a windowsill seems like a good place for them, so on a sunny day they can still bring joy as the light shines through them :)

    Tracy (Black Boots, Long Legs)

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    1. Like your knitting - an experiment with fused beads that went badly wrong (think rice krispie cakes) was good in that they got reused in a small dish as decoration... unfortunately can't do that with these!

      Windowsill sounds good :) they are there accidentally as I moved them to make room for more supplies and they haven't found a new home yet!

      Mars xx

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